South Carolina starting quarterback Connor Shaw is looking ahead to his future. And it's looking more and more like he may join the military once his football-playing days are done.

“Football is still my priority,” said Shaw, who is 17-3 as a starter. “I am going to take football as long as it’ll take me. Whenever that may end, that’s when I’ll go into Officer Candidate School.”

The son of a successful high school coach in Georgia, Shaw once planned on going into coaching as soon as his playing days were through.

“I think I want to go into coaching eventually, but I have been so passionate about the military,” he said. “I think it’s just the discipline, the strict regimen and structure, very similar to what is going on now. I am the type of person that I really honestly don’t know what I would do with free time. There is something about being part of something bigger than yourself, very similar to a team.

“I’m just switching uniforms.”

Shaw has been involved with Hidden Wounds, a South Carolina organization aiding military personnel and veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder and brain injuries.